Title: System design improvement to eliminate brake-induced vehicle vibration

Authors: W.Y. Loh, J. Weng, R. Basch, W. Zhu, D. Schuetzle

Addresses: Ford Motor Company, 20000 Rotunda Dr., Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, P.R. China. ' Ford Motor Company, 20000 Rotunda Dr., Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Ford Motor Company, 20000 Rotunda Dr., Dearborn, MI 48121, USA. ' Ford Motor Company, 20000 Rotunda Dr., Dearborn, MI 48121, USA

Abstract: Vehicle quality is strongly influenced by vehicle sensitivity to brake-induced vibration. When drivers can detect brake-induced vibration, it negatively impacts their satisfaction with a vehicle|s performance and quality. The suspension is the primary chassis sub-system that transmits vibration from the brakes to the rest of vehicle. Since the suspension system is directly linked with the brake, tyre/wheel assembly, sub-frame and steering system, its coupled vibration is very complicated. The current paper presents a study of chassis system vibration mode identification and a design strategy for reducing system sensitivity to brake-induced vibration. A system integration approach is used to derive an improvement strategy that can potentially make a vehicle more robust to the vibration caused by torque variation of the brakes. The approach links suspension, steering and sub-frame vibration characteristics, system identification techniques, kinematics modeling and robust design principles in a systematic fashion. The concept and method have been successfully demonstrated on a typical mid-size vehicle.

Keywords: brakes; brake torque variation; chassis system; damping; disc thickness variation; frequency; kinematics modelling; resonance; robust design; sensitivity; steering system; suspension; system identification; vehicle vibration; chassis vibration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2002.005464

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2002 Vol.17 No.5/6, pp.375 - 388

Published online: 11 Oct 2004 *

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